A Starter Story - Galar
by Hazuzu
Summary: With the help of Sob the Sobble, Groo the Grookey figures out who's been burning his favorite places to play - the city's gardens. Characters: Grookey, Scorbunny, Sobble.


There was a vandal in the city. Groo knew that much. From his perch atop the chimney, he could see everything from the bustling streets to the smoke-spilling stacks, and between them the small patches of green that were his favorite places to play.

But more than that, they were each the scene of a crime. A scorched branch here, a hole in the grass there, and a hundred other remnants of some criminal for whom sun-soaked concrete wasn't warm enough.

"I'm gonna get you one day..." Groo tapped his stick against the chimney. His ears twitched at the sound of a faint plopping noise behind him. He didn't turn his head, but looked out of the corner of his eye, and there they were. Little watery footprints coming up the bricks. "Hey! What are you doing, creeping up on me?!"

The air rippled like water and a pair of big blue eyes stared back at him.

"S-Sorry..." Sob said, as he crawled up the last stretch of chimney with her fin tucked tight against his skull. "I was looking for..." He sat himself on one of the other chimney stacks. "I thought I saw another Grookey."

"You see a lot of us around here, do you?" Groo tucked his stick behind his leafy crown.

"Um..."

"Maybe my family, huh, did you see them?" Then Sob was gone again, invisible but for the faint shimmer in the air where he sat. Groo frowned, then sighed. "Sorry. Please stop camouflaging."

"Will you be mean?" Sob asked, as soft as the wind that ruffled Groo's leaves.

"I won't."

"Promise?"

"I promise." Groo smiled when he saw Sob's soft blue face fade back into view. "I'm just so annoyed right now."

"Why?"

"Somebody has been ruining all of the gardens! They're the only place sin this whole city that are green and somebody keeps burning them! And I can't ever catch them and it's really annoying and it's just like when the humans took over."

"Wow. You were here when the humans built all of this?" Sob's eyes were filled with wonder.

"Well, no, but I've seen pictures of it, and Old Hoot told me about it, too. Bushes filled with berries and flowers everywhere and all the trees you can swing from..." Groo sighed. "And now it's just a bunch of smelly smokestacks for smellier humans."

"I don't think they small bad..."

"Wait. Look!" Groo pointed a finger out over the city. There was a white blur running across one of the cranes, a pair of orange ears flowing behind it. "That's a Pokemon!"

"Oh. Yeah." Sob said. "Cool."

"Maybe they know something about it!" Groo stood up. "The vandalism!"

"Oh, um, I don't think so."

"What?" Groo turned to look at his thoroughly-rooted friend. "Why not?"

"Uhhh. No reason."

"It's worth trying! Come on, Sob! You can help me find out who's ruining the gardens! Let's catch that Pokemon!" He had already hopped off of the stack and landed on the roof below. If he could trust his eyes, and he always did, the white blur was headed for the giant clock at the center of the city. He ran along the edge, right up to the point nearest the opposite building, and flung himself across.

He clambered over doorways, swung on hanging ropes, and darted from wall to wall in his haste to catch up with the stranger. His hand found purchase in one of the miniature spires and he leaned back just in time to see Sob cling to the side of a moving crane with his sticky fingers. It swung faster and faster until Sob had enough speed to jump, clinging to the side of the clocktower and beginning his ascent.

"Hey! Whatcha doin'?" Asked a voice from above. Groo glanced up to see the white blur, happily perched on one of the clock's hands with its floppy orange ears blowing in the breeze.

"Hello." Groo said to the figure. "My name is Groo. I'm a Grookey. Who are you?"

"I'm a Scorbunny, and I'm..." The Scorbunny put a paw to her lips, then shrugged. "New! Do you, like, live here all the time?"

"My whole life." Groo bobbed his head. "Don't you have a name?"

"No, wait, yes! Somebody called me Scor!"

"That's cool. Me and my friends all call each other names like that." Groo glanced down. What was taking Sob so long? "Can I ask you something, Scor? Have you seen anyone leaving marks in the gardens here? Burns and stuff?"

"Nooo. No." Scor hummed. "No, yes! I do that. Sometimes. I'm getting used to my fire, you know? I'm just running around and blam! Fire."

"You?" Groo's eyes went wide. "You've been burning the gardens?"

"Yeah! Is it a big deal?" Scor asked. "My friend said it's not a big deal."

"It's a huge deal! This whole city is all stone and humans and buildings and metal and those are the only places that are fun! And pretty!"

"I love this place!" Scor shook her head. "It's so much fun! There are lots of moving things, like the cranes, and the gears, and there's a lot of stuff to jump off of, and run on, and the people all point and look and some of them clap!"

"How can you like it?" Groo's brow furrowed into a frown "It's ugly and cold and it's all gray and dull."

"I just do! It's much better than the gardens, they're all green and there's not a lot of fun stuff there. I can't even run up a gear in the gardens!"

"U-Um." Sob appeared at the bottom of the clock, clinging to the side of it with his blue head flicking between the pair. "I think...both places are nice. But different. But nice for other people. Y-Y'know?"

"I don't like it." Groo said stubbornly.

"But Scor does. A lot. Don't you, Scor?"

"Yeah! Hi Sob! When did you get up here?"

"Just now." Sob said. "But. Groo. If somebody has the most fun here, it can't be that bad, can it?"

Groo stared at Sob's soft eyes and up at Scor's. Part of him wanted to take out his stick and start hitting them with it.

"I guess not."

"Scor...if Groo likes the gardens, it's nice to be careful there. Right?"

"Yeah! I can do it! No problem! I can just leap right over them!" Scor paused. "Eventually! I don't know if I can jump that far yet, but I will! One day!"

"So. The gardens won't get burned. And Scor won't get yelled at. And everything's okay. R-Right?" Sob asked.

"Yeah!"

"Yeah."

A wide smile spread over the blue Pokemon's lips.

"Wait a minute..." Groo said. "Scor said that a friend named her, and that it wasn't a big deal, and she knew you when you showed up, Sob. Did you know about this the whole time and didn't tell me?!"

"Gottagobye." Suddenly, Sob was no longer there.

"That's so cool!" Scor clapped where she sat. "I didn't know he could telepor- Hey, where're you going?" She leaped down to follow Groo as he gave chase to his disappearing friend.


End file.
